I don't even know how long I have had them. I remember when I was little collecting and trading them like everyone else in the neighborhood. Solid colors or cat eyes? Which did you like best?The solids had milky white swirls in them. The cat eyes were clear with the swirl of color. I think I liked the cat eyes the best. I didn't like the "steelies", steel marbles. Those seemed so cold and more for boys, not pretty at all.
I remember getting an iron skillet, heating it up and putting the marbles in it. When they got real hot, I'd take the skillet and run it all under cold water. Those marbles would crack and look like crystals. I don't think I ever broke one.
I'd count them, sort them, roll them around in my bedspread and play for hours with them. But, I never played a game of marbles. I don't even think I knew how to.
Marbles, something I bet is at the bottom of just a few kids Christmas list, if even on it at all.
16 comments:
My brother and I gave our marbles names. They are a thing of beauty.
Ask my mom about her basket of marbles - lol.
I remember playing with marbles, I loved to hold them up to the light and admire all the different swirls of color.
My son recently attended a great birthday party that featured a treasure hunt.
The prizes along the hunt were things like a single feather, a golden skeleton key, a button, and a marble. I was so thrilled to see a return to the simple.
I am going to tell my kids your trick with the heat...
You still have your marbles? I lost mine years ago. ~smirk~
I had marbles as a kid...a few and the boys would let me play when they were .. don't know where mine ended up (buried in dirt in the backyard most likely along with broken tea sets, spoons....). I love how you have them in a purple Seagram's bag!! My husband has some of his boyhood treasures in an old Crown Royal purple bag!! :)
Sherry: you are right, it's a Crown Royal bag ... I guess as a kid, I didn't know my booze *wink*
I found a Crown Royal bag a couple of years ago in the street. It was just like the one my parents had decades ago and I was so tickled to find it (though I can't explain why).
We had marbles when I was a kid. I remember running up to the corner store on a few occasions to buy them. I liked the solids and I had a steelie. We would play at school during recess, and sometimes at the side of my house as I recall. My red marble was my favorite. And the yellow one.
My Dad got Shortman a whole bunch of marbles once. Blue and green cats eyes made up the bulk.
We moved, and someone knocked them off of the counter they were sitting on. It took forever to pick the damn things up. 18 months later, we're still finding stray marbles. ;-)
Hey, Nancy, thanks for the link. We have a huge canning jar full of marbles. I love how they look and how they feel. And I love how they are simple, without electronics or gimmicks. Just the kid and the bag of colorful orbs.
All cats-eyes, all the time - I love 'em. We (OK, the kids) have an old wooden cigar box full of marbles.
You haven’t lost your marbles. Okay. (What-EV-ERR) ;)
OMG! I can't beleive it! You could have been talking about my childhood love affair with marbles. I also had a purple "Crown Royal" bag where i kept my marbles. Our parnets must have liked the same booze. I did the frying pan thing with mine as well. I loved the way they sparkled when the were all cracked on the inside. Thank you for bringing back this wonderful memory.
I remember my grandpa's rock garden. He had a little area with a bench and bird bath and the ground was completely covered in white rocks. Sprinkled over the rocks were marbles. Beautiful, shiny, colorful marbles. He told me they grew in his garden. He would let me 'pick' a marble from his garden when I visited.
I don't remember when I came to realize they didn't grow in his garden or what I did with those marbles. But I will always remember that garden and the effort he made to make me smile.
These days I look for marbles to add to my own garden.
Anon: Thank you for sharing that story. I love it! I'm a new "Nana" and I think this is a wonderful idea.
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